I've just watched it and got the impression he did it to be famous. I don't see him doing this for democracy or privacy. He wanted to be next Julian.
shareWhichever the motivation, its the actions that matters.
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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.
I thought you said you watched it? If you did, you certainly didn't understand it.
His stated reason was something along the line of "this surveillance limits my intellectual capability to discuss and understand, and that of those close to me".
Which is probably pretty far out. Keep in mind that this is probably someone with an IQ north of 150. Simply because of his position within the NSA he must have been one of the brightest. That makes him part of the elite human beings. Certainly idealistic and devoted. Maybe narcissistic too, but not someone who throws his life away just to be get is 15 min of fame. A "normal" person would just keep watching netflix instead, but it's always the special ones that change society.
If you do want to point towards character weaknesses you could point out that he might have some kind of death wish or even wanted to be a martyr. The shots of him staring out of the window in that hotel room, he MUST have known that they already knew it was him and that they must have tracked glen Greenwald to the hotel. He must have known that there was a sniper out there or another way to kill him. So looking out that window was reckless. Taunting. As if to say "*beep* you I'm not afraid of the worst you can do! Finish it if you dare!"
Of course the disclosures matter, not the story behind Edward Snowden. So in a way just by asking your question you are doing the job of the government propaganda. But his story does deserve to be told because we need to know that our society does need an elite to change for the better in a rapidly changing world.
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He was gonna be famous one way or another and getting famous also kind of defense, news are gonna notice if he gets assassinated.
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